Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Stop-work order issued on luxury bungalows project

By CHRISTINA LOW (The Star, Tuesday April 22, 2008)

KUALA LUMPUR: A stop-work order was issued on the Damansara 21 project Monday after City Hall (DBKL) found that the developer did not comply with safety standards and did not have a proper drainage system.

“We have notified them to stop work until they are able to complete the safety works for the project,” DBKL Public Works Department director Siti Saffur Mansor said at a meeting chaired by DBKL director-general Datuk Salleh Yusup yesterday.

DBKL also found that the developer did not follow the geotechnical report which stated that they must work in stages and not continuously.

It issued two compound notices to the developer totalling RM100,000 in fines.The Damansara 21 project, which began in early December, comprises 21 luxury bungalows costing between RM10mil and RM15mil each.

Siti Saffur said the developer promised to rectify the faults by May 20. It would also have to submit a report to DBKL every Friday.

She gave assurance that the hillside project posed no danger to the residents, as DBKL was reviewing development sites such as those located in Segambut, Mont Kiara, Damansara, Kampung Sungai Penchala, Batu and Bukit Jalil.

When asked if the area was the last 10% green lung stretch as claimed by the residents, Salleh said it was untrue as the area still had many trees.

Medan Damansara residents held a protest on Sunday for an immediate stop-work order because the project did not have silt-traps, hoarding and a plan to prevent erosion at the site.

Strange, Saravanan has yet to come out and claim credit, trust me, he has the stomuch.

People, together we can make it. just let our MP do their job and standby them.

Many has set higher standard on the PR MPs cox the people felt that the change was asked by them -the PR MPs. And if they cant deliver, they must be punished. Please be reminded, it's US, the people, we wanted the change, becox we calculated, to have the same bunch of warlords in the Parliament, we would lose everything. So give them the time and support they require to do their job.

I am one of the resident living in the vicinity and have seen the blatant disregard of the developer and others behind this development. Obviously the stop-work order and the RM100K fine is nothing compared with the RM200m++ they can make, probably protected by "people who have probably collected their fees" for making this happen.

Nothing short of prosecution, slamming them in jail, and shaming them will deter others from going down this path.

In the meantime, we living there are living in danger everyday, and its not just the erosion, landslides and gushing water, but the possibility of cracks as the earth below is disturbed. The destruction is now irreversible.